It was raining outside, and the windows of the old mansion 
were speckled with the crystalline droplets.  Thunder crashed 
overhead, and Mel Pappas jumped in surprise.  Not for the first 
time that evening she tried and failed to concentrate on the work 
in front of her.  She was sitting at her father's desk, looking at 
the faded ink on some old letters.  Several days ago she had 
arrived back home to put her affairs in order.  And now she had 
put off going through her father's belongings long enough.  It had 
been over a year now since he had died, and the last time she had 
tried going through anything, she had found the letter from a 
Doctor Covington. 

        She thought back to a month ago when she had met up with  
Janice on the dig in Macedonia.  What a woman that Janice 
Covington was! So strong, so sure of herself.  She had never known 
a woman that smoked cigars before either.  That had been a new 
experience, though not at all an unpleasant one.  Her granddaddy 
used to smoke the very same brand.  And now, she even missed it. 
Most everything about Janice was a little unusual, and unexpected.  
The way she handled herself was surprising to Mel…she was so 
forceful and so unlike any women she had ever known.  She had also 
been surprised when she had seen Janice carry a gun, but seeing 
her use a bullwhip had almost made the sheltered southerner faint. 
Something about the power of it…  She shuddered as  scores of 
goosepimples rushed like a waterfall down her back.  Just the 
thought was enough to make her fidget with an ache she couldn’t 
place…
        
"I have *really* got to get to work on daddy's letters," she 
thought, as she pushed her glasses up on her nose.  "Or I just 
know I'll end up putting it off again."

        Mel jumped again as another clap of thunder sounded overhead, 
violently shaking the windows.  'This is getting ridiculous,' she 
groaned as she got up and walked over to the large study window.  
She looked out into the darkness of the night, realizing just how 
lonely and desolate she really felt.  The old house seemed very 
quiet and empty at that moment, and she wished she wasn’t alone. 
She wished she had someone to talk with…but not just somebody. She 
wanted Janice.  She missed the feisty archeologist terribly.
As she looked out the window, she could just see the main road 
through the trees.  Several car lights were moving at a slow crawl 
in the rain.  She sighed and turned back toward the center of the 
room, gazing at the huge amount of paperwork on the small desk. "I 
think I'll go down and fix myself something to eat," she said out 
loud just to hear herself talk.  "Maybe it will quiet my nerves."

        Mel made her way down the narrow back staircase from her 
father's bedroom.  This staircase went directly to the kitchen, 
and had been used by the servants when her daddy had been alive. 
Mel had dismissed most of the hired help after his death, all 
except for Thomas the groundskeeper and Sheila, who kept the house 
while Mel was gone.  Neither of these people were here tonight, 
however, since she had told them that she was coming back to the 
house.  She had thought at the time that she’d like the peace and 
quiet.  But now it was only getting on her nerves.  Janice had 
given her several days to come back home and get her things in 
order before going off on another lead about some more scrolls.  
So Mel was surprised when she heard a knock at the door.

        'Who in the dickens could that be?' she wondered.  It must be 
at least  eleven o'clock.  Who would be calling at this hour?  
Kicking off her shoes to muffle the sound of her footsteps, she 
walked silently to the front door.  Picking up the fireplace poker  
that she had kept next to the door ever since she'd been home, she 
held it tightly in her left hand.  Janice had warned her that 
there still might be people after her since she now was 
associating with the archeologist.  Better to be safe than sorry.  
That Smythe fellow probably wasn’t the only one to want 
information about the scrolls.  She reached over and opened the 
door.
        
"Whatcha gonna do with that, hon, stoke some fires?”  Mel looked 
down into the face of a smiling and very wet Janice Covington. “ 
Mine could use a good probing." 

        "Janice!," Mel blushed and then had the presence of mind to 
realize that Janice probably didn't mean what she thought she had 
meant. 'Damn,' she scolded herself.  'Get your mind out of the 
gutter!'  She opened the screen door and let Janice in under her 
arm, and helped the smaller woman in with her bags.

        "So aren't you wondering what I'm doing here, Mel?"  Janice 
shook herself and tiny drops of water flew everywhere.  Mel held 
her hand in front of her face and grimaced.  Janice grinned 
sheepishly.  "Sorry about that," she said.

        "Of course I want to know why you're here," Mel smiled.  "I 
thought you were staying in New York to work out a deal with the 
Metropolitan museum."  Mel helped Janice pull off her sodden 
leather jacket and held it out at arms length, not at all quite 
sure what to do with it.

        "It won't bite you, you know," Janice laughed at Mel's 
expression as she pulled off her sodden shirt as well. "At least 
it not any more...."

        "Janice," Mel hung the jacket on a hook next to the door. 
"How in the blazes did you get so wet?"

        The two women exchanged a glance.  Janice lifted an eyebrow.

        "What I MEAN is..." Mel flushed, exasperated.  "In that short 
distance from the car to here..."she ended lamely.

        "Short distance!  I wouldn't call that hike up that football 
field you call a front lawn *short*."  Janice started pulling off 
her trousers and Mel turned away.

        "You walked up the driveway?  Why?  Where's your car?"  Mel 
turned back around just in time to see Janice stand up in only a 
man’s tank top and cotton briefs.  Both were very tight fitting, 
and left absolutely nothing to the imagination.  She felt her 
mouth drop open in surprise.  She had seen Janice only briefly in 
her underwear before, while she was changing clothes. But this was 
an entirely new experience.  Suddenly, she realized she was 
staring, and closed her mouth with a snap.

        "I took a taxi,” Janice was saying, “and he let me out down 
at the road.  Said he wouldn't come up here."  She started to 
shiver.

        "Oh, Janice," Mel snapped out of her trance and pulled the 
smaller woman into the kitchen.  "I'm sorry!  I'm just standing 
here while you're freezing."  She started to rub Janice's arms as 
she pulled her into an embrace.…and then realized how forward she 
was being and pulled away.

        "Don't ever be sorry, darlin," Janice smiled with a twinkle 
in her eye. She took Mel's hands and placed them back on her arms, 
repeating the rubbing motions.  "Besides, I kinda liked it."  She 
smiled even more at Mel's surprised look.  "Now what were you 
going to do?"

        "Bring you in by the fire and warm you up."  Mel led the 
archeologist into a large, firelit sitting room several doors down 
the hall from the kitchen.  She pulled the old Victorian couch 
over in front of the fireplace and motioned for Janice to sit 
down.  She grabbed an afghan out of the hallway closet and gave it 
to Janice.  "Sit down here and get warm, and I'll get you 
something hot to drink.  Then, you can tell me why you're here."        
"That sounds great, Mel.  Just let me get my bags so I can get 
some dry clothes."

        "Oh no you don't, Janice Covington.  Just sit here right by 
the fire for a few minutes and I'll get them.  I don't want you 
catching a cold."  She noticed Janice starting to get up and 
glared at her.  "I mean it, now!" she said, all the world like an 
old school teacher.

        "Ohhhh, Miss Pappas!"  Janice drawled in a fine imitation of 
Mel's southern accent.  "Y'all gonna slap my hand because I was a 
bad little girl?"  She pasted as innocent a look as possible on 
her face as Mel turned to look at her, an eyebrow threatening to 
climb to her hairline.  "Or are you going to paddle me?"  she 
broke down and grinned evilly.  "Either way, I'm easy."

        Mel stared down at the woman in disbelief.  What was she 
saying? 

        Janice just laughed.  "It's all right, Mel.  I was just 
joking."  "I knew that!"  Mel bit her lip and practically ran out 
of the room towards the kitchen.

        Janice snuggled into the afghan and soaked up the warmth of 
the fire with her feet.  She smiled inwardly when she thought of 
Mel's reaction to her joke.  She had tried to feel the southerner 
out now for several weeks, but was having trouble deciding if Mel 
liked her or not.  'If I told her how I feel about her, she'd  
probably think I was crazy or something.'  She sighed.  'I would 
think so myself, if I were her,' Janice inwardly berated herself.  
She looked around the room she was in, noticing the expensive 
furnishings.  'The woman's got everything,' she thought 'Why would 
she want someone like me?'  They had only known each other for a 
short time, and Janice was definitely not the kind of woman that 
fell in love that easily.  But for some reason, she felt compelled 
to seek the southerner out.  Even though it had been less than a 
week since they had parted company.  There was just *something* 
about those deep blue eyes, those long legs that went on 
forever....

        "Here we go," Mel came into the room carrying a cup of some 
kind of hot steaming liquid and a towel over her arm.  “This,” she 
held up the towel, “is for the outside.  And this," she held up 
the cup, “is for the inside.”  She grinned down at Janice and 
handed her the cup.  "I guarantee that after you drink that, 
you'll feel much better."

        Janice took the cup and sniffed it. Coffee, it smelled like a 
freshly brewed cup of Ethopian Harrar, her favorite brand.  But 
how had Mel known?  She looked up at the southerner as she took a 
sip, and was caught off guard when caught the unmistakable taste 
of alcohol.

        "Whiskey?"  she asked.  Pleasantly surprised that Mel would 
do such a thing.

        "Not exactly," Mel smiled sweetly.  "Bushmills.  It's my 
granddaddy's recipe."

        "For me?" Janice remembered having that particular brand of 
whiskey several years ago, but generally partook of less expensive 
brands.  Generally, the idea had been to get as drunk as possible, 
as quickly as possible.  Taste wasn't a big priority.  As long as 
it did it’s job, then that was all that mattered.  She took 
another sip, and realized she could learn to enjoy this...very 
much.  "I must really rate to get your granddaddy's recipe," she 
smiled as Mel stood with her hands on her hips and stared down at 
her.  "Aren't you having any? She asked, starting to feel the 
warmth spreading down to her toes.

        "Last time I had some of that, they had to carry me up to 
bed," Mel said seriously.  "Apparently I had had too much, and I 
started dancing with that lamp over there."  She pointed at an old 
Tiffany lamp with a green and black stained glass grape design. 
"That, was my partner," she sighed and looked at Janice 
thoughtfully.  "Best one I've ever had.  At least it didn't step 
on my feet."

        "I would have *loved* to have seen that." Janice smiled into 
her cup.

        "Well, obviously I made quite a spectacle of myself," Mel 
continued. "They said I was talking to it quite animatedly, and I 
even had a name for it."

        "Tell me," Janice grinned hugely. "I've got to know."

        "Gabrielle."

        Janice could hardly keep the swallow she had in her mouth 
from going sideways down her throat.  Once she managed to get it 
down, she laughed.  “No way!” she said.  “You’re kidding…”

        "Actually, I'm not.  And apparently it was quite the 
scandal." Mel smiled wistfully.  "I wish I remembered more about 
it.  All I remember is instructing the lamp on the finer points of 
the tango, and then it gets a bit hazy.  It’s kind of depressing 
to know I had such a good time and I can’t remember it!"

        Janice laughed.  "Mel," she said, standing up and wrapping 
the afghan around her.  "I want you to have some of this wonderful 
brew."  She took the southerners arm and led her towards the 
kitchen, holding her own cup in her left hand.  "And I'll help you 
make it."

        "I don't know..." Mel hesitated for a moment until she looked 
down into Janice's smiling eyes.  She felt herself melting at the 
archeologist's touch.  "Well," she let the hint of a smile touch 
her lips. "If you insist…but just a little."

        Mel opened a kitchen cabinet and pulled out the bottle of 
Bushmills.  She handed it to Janice, who looked at it closely.

        "Cup," she said, looking at Mel, who for a moment was a bit 
baffled. 

        "Oh," she laughed and reached in another cabinet and pulled 
out a coffee cup.  "Will this do?"

        "I don't know," Janice smiled.  "Is it the biggest one you've 
got?"

        "Janice," Mel leaned back against the kitchen stove and 
crossed her arms.  "Are you trying to get me drunk?"

        Janice looked a bit guilty but she shook her head. "Not at 
all, Mel."  She laughed softly but then looked serious for a 
moment.  "When was the last time you really let it all hang out 
and had some real fun?"

        "You mean like the time I danced with the lamp?"  Janice 
nodded.  "Well...I don't think I've ever let it all hang out…so to 
speak."  she laughed.  "But real fun..." She thought for a minute.  
"The only thing I can think of at the moment is this party for a 
fund-raising drive that I participated in..."

        "No Mel," Janice put her fingers on the raven-haired woman's 
lips to stop her thought, and kept them there, relishing in their 
softness.  But suddenly she realized what she was doing and jerked 
her hand away.  "I'm sorry," she said quickly and turned to take 
the bottle of whiskey in her hands.  She was surprised when she 
felt a touch on her face.  Mel was caressing her cheek.  She 
turned to look up into a pair of incredibly blue eyes.

        "Never be sorry, Janice," Mel smiled sadly down at the blonde 
woman and leaned to kiss her forehead.  She was surprised at the 
smoothness and warmth of the archeologist's skin.  "There's no 
place I'd rather be than right here, right now.  No fund-raising 
drive can compare."

        "Really?" Janice reached up and put her hand on Mel's arm, 
sending shivers up and down her back.  "I'm sure that fund-raiser 
must have been a real hot time."

        "Well, it was okay." She thought back to that night, and the 
man her Aunt Lilah had set her up with.  He had been quite 
handsome, but only interested in talking about himself….and in 
getting into Mel's clothes.  She had had to fight him off all 
evening, and even now the memory made her shudder. 

        "What is it, Mel?"  Janice's concerned voice cut through her 
thoughts.

        "Oh, it's nothing, really."  Mel took the bottle from 
Janice's hands and poured about an inch in the bottom of the cup. 
"I was just thinking about that night."

        "Unpleasant thoughts?"  Janice's fingers wrapped around Mel's 
as she took the coffee cup from Mel's grasp.  "You look like 
you've eaten a lemon."  A smile touched her lips as she carried it 
over to the coffee pot and sat it down.

        "Not unpleasant, actually," Mel walked over, took the cup and 
filled it up with the hot, steaming liquid.  “The man I went with 
was just unrefined…and not at all what I had expected."  She took 
a sip and grimaced.  "It’s perfect."

        Janice picked up the bottle and led the way back into the 
sitting room.  As Mel sat down on one side of the couch, Janice 
reached in her bags and pulled out a red smoking jacket and put it 
on.

        "Wherever did you get THAT thing?"  Mel looked wide-eyed at 
the velvet jacket. My daddy used to have one just like it."  She 
reached over and touched Janice's sleeve as the archeologist sat 
down beside her.  "Exactly like it," she breathed.

        "My father left it to me," Janice sighed, remembering.  "He 
got it during one of the times that he allowed himself to splurge 
and buy things.  He'd just made a bundle of money on some 
artifacts he'd sold to the Cairo museum, and he bought this, and a 
new gun for me."

        "That's not much of a gift for a girl," Mel stated, 
immediately regretting it. "I mean...did you like it?"

        "Mel, I loved it," Janice took a sip of her coffee and urged 
Mel to do the same. "It was something I needed at the time. It was 
a practical gift, and my father was ever the practical man." She 
looked sideways at Mel. "It made a lot more sense than something I 
couldn't use...like a dress."

        "I suppose." Mel wondered what she would have thought if her 
daddy had given her a gun as a present. She couldn't imagine it. 
He had always sheltered her from that side of his life, the dark, 
dangerous side. And she was finding that she was fascinated by it. 
"So tell me," she took another drink from her cup, "Where did you 
learn to use a whip?"

        Janice looked flustered for a moment , and Mel wondered what 
she had said to elicit such a response. "You don't have to tell me 
if you don't want to," she whispered into her cup. "I'm just 
curious, that's all."

        "Mel," Janice said very softly. "I don’t mind telling you. 
The question just took me by surprise, that’s all.  An ex-lover 
taught me."

        An ex-lover? Now Mel was extremely curious. Janice had never 
mentioned anyone to her before. This was getting even more 
fascinating. "What was his name?" she asked.

        "Sarah."

        Mel turned and looked at Janice in surprise. "A woman?" she 
choked for a moment and then took a huge gulp of her coffee, 
practically downing it one swallow. She felt herself tense up at 
the thought of Janice with another woman, and then felt herself 
growing warm. This was an interesting turn of events. She imagined 
this woman sliding her hands underneath Janice's clothes, around 
her soft breasts…and down over her….

        "Does that bother you, Mel? Janice asked, looking concerned. 
She noticed Mel's uneasyness, and distant look, interpreting it as 
fear. "Because if it does, then we don't have to talk about it."

        "No," Mel smiled warmly at Janice. "I'm fine with it. It just 
took me by surprise, that's all." She reached up and undid the top 
button of her blouse, realizing that all of the sudden she was 
very hot. "Tell me about it," she said.

        "There's not much to tell, actually. We met in Istanbul when 
I was nineteen. We knew each other for about six or seven months, 
and then we parted and went our separate ways." Janice sat back 
and looked at Mel, noting the pink tinge that was coloring  Mel's 
neck and arms. "Are you all right?" she asked as she leaned 
forward and pressed her hand to Mel's cheek. "You look a bit 
flushed."

        "I'm fine, thank you very much!" Mel grabbed Janice's wrist, 
pulling it away from her face. But she didn't let go, and slid her 
fingers up Janice's wrist to clasp her hand and squeeze. "I'm glad 
you told me, though."

        "So, how about you?" Janice asked seriously. "Where did you 
learn to be so fascinating?"

        "Me?" Mel looked at Janice in surprise. "I think you must be 
talking about someone else!"

        "No, I’m talking about you." Janice tried to keep the 
intensity out of her voice, afraid she's overwhelm the southerner. 
"I think you're absolutely intriguing."

        Mel felt herself blushing and she looked embarrassed. "Well, 
I'm sure it's not because of anything I've done. You've had the 
interesting life, not me. I pretty much did what I was told to do, 
growing up. I said my prayers, wore what I was told to wear, 
talked to who I was supposed to talk to. It was very boring. 
When your family is well known, everything you do is the town 
gossip. So that's why I was never allowed to 'let it all hang 
out,' as you said."

        "Oh Mel, I'm sorry." Janice smiled sadly. "It sounds like 
hell!"

        Mel laughed and Janice joined her. "Well, I wouldn't say 
*that*," she grinned. "But I didn't really realize what I was 
missing until I met you."

        "Really?" Janice asked innocently. "So it's my job to lead 
you off into the world of decadence and depravity?"

        "Well..." Mel grinned sheepishly at Janice. "I wouldn't put 
it *that* way.

        Janice took another drink of her coffee, draining the cup. 
"Oh no," she looked at the cup like she'd lost her best friend. 
"What do we do now?"

        "Have some more?" Mel offered.

        "Have some more!" Janice laughed and picked up the bottle 
from where she'd sat it next to her feet. She poured straight 
Bushmills into her cup, then lifted the bottle intending to fill 
Mel's cup as well.

        "I don't know about this," Mel looked a bit dubious. "You may 
end carrying me upstairs."

        "Now *there's* a thought," Janice laughed. "So Mel, tell 
me....has there been anyone special for you? You know...someone 
you've loved?" She poured the whiskey into Mel's cup and sat the 
bottle down. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

        "Actually, I don't mind," Mel sighed softly and took a tiny 
sip of her drink. "There was this man once..."

        "And???" Janice leaned forward with an eager look on her 
face.

        "For the longest time he tried to get my attention. He sent 
me flowers everyday, wrote me love poems.... He even stood outside 
my window one night and sang to 
me."

        Janice sighed. "How romantic."

        "Not really," Mel thought back to that night. "When my 
daddy's guard dogs got wind of him, he had to hightail it down the 
driveway, and up onto the neighbor's barn. From what I hear, he 
lost the seat of his pants climbing over the fence."

        Janice stifled a giggle behind her hand. "And then what 
happened?"

        "He refused to come around here anymore. I think he thought 
my daddy set the dogs on him on purpose. Truth to tell, he wasn't 
even *here* that night."

        "I'm sorry, Mel..." Janice grinned openly. 

        "Don't be. I never told anybody this, but *I* was the one 
that set the dogs on him."

        Janice laughed. "You're kidding! Really?"

        "Yeah, he was annoying." Mel joined in Janice's laughter.

        "Surely he wasn't the only one.  As beautiful as you are, you 
must have had lots of offers."

        Mel blushed at the compliment. "Well," she said. "There were 
a lot of irritating boys that tried to get to know me because of 
who my daddy was. They thought if they could get me to fall for 
them, that they'd get in good with him and get some of his money."

        "But hasn't there been anyone you've loved?" Janice asked 
earnestly. "Someone who captured your heart?"

        'Only you,' thought Mel as she stared into Janice's soft 
green eyes.  'I love her?' she wondered. 'I guess I do.' "Not 
really," she said out loud.

        "What about sex?" Janice grinned evilly. "You know I want to 
know about that!"

        "Mel took another sip of her drink, fully expecting to feel 
embarrassed. But apparently the whiskey had relaxed her enough 
that the surprise wasn't there. She just stared into Janice's 
eyes. "What do you want to know? She grinned as evilly as Janice 
has done, surprising the archeologist. "Who I've had sex with, or 
what we did? If I tell, you'll have to tell as well. Fair is 
fair."

        Janice was speechless. She never expected the prim and proper 
southerner to even admit she'd had sex, let alone tell her about 
it. Surprise, surprise! "Uh Mel, you don't have to tell me 
anything."

        "Oh, but I *want* to, Janice." Mel unbuttoned her blouse 
sleeves and rolled them up. She was finding it increasingly warm 
in the room, and wondered if Janice felt the same. She noticed the 
green eyes watching her hands as she took another sip from her 
cup. She took one herself. "Where should I start?"

        "Where would you like to start?" Janice was entranced by 
Mel's movements. The woman would look sexy peeling an orange. She 
watched as Mel's hands rolled up her sleeves and then settled on 
her thighs. She watched entranced as the long fingers slid lightly 
up and down on her skirt as if they were smoothing some 
nonexistent wrinkles. "Janice,” Mel said slowly, picking her words 
carefully. “What's it like having sex with a woman?"

        The question came from left field and almost made the 
archeologist drop her teeth. She blinked dumbly in surprise. 
"What? I thought you were going to go first."

        "I was. But I don't think my experiences have been nearly as 
exciting as yours."

        Janice put her hand on Mel's, feeling the taller woman 
shiver. "I wouldn't bet on that," she smiled. "Anyone that had sex 
with you would never forget it."

        Mel's eyes opened wide as she looked at Janice’s unusually 
soft expression. "Why...thank you," she whispered. "That's sweet 
of you to say."

        "Sweet, nothing!" Janice grinned. "I'll bet you're a real 
tiger in bed." She scooted over closer to Mel,  who suddenly found 
it incredibly hard to breathe.

        "I don't know if I'd go that far," Mel choked out as Janice 
sat shoulder to shoulder with her. She could feel the heat from 
the archeologist's body and it made her feel light-headed. She 
felt her hand squeezed. She had almost forgotten that Janice was 
holding it.

        "How do you like it, Mel?" Janice whispered softly from next 
to her. "What turns you on?" She ran the index finger of her right 
hand up Mel's forearm. 

        Mel could hardly believe where this conversation had ended 
up. Part of her wanted to rebel, but a larger part of her 
seriously wanted to continue. She'd never talked about this kind 
of stuff with anyone that she could remember. And certainly no one 
like Janice. She felt like she could tell Janice anything and the 
woman wouldn't judge her. It was a freeing thought. She tried to 
keep from shivering as Janice caressed her arm, but she couldn't 
help herself. "That's nice," she said, finally.

        "You like this?" Janice leaned against Mel and Mel finally 
gave in and leaned back. To hell with her fears. There was no 
longer anyone to tell her no. "So tell me Mel, is there anything 
you've never done that you'd like to do?"

"Yes," she said automatically and then regretted it. Janice 
would think she was a freak.

"Tell me," Janice whispered and snuggled down into Mel's 
shoulder.

"I don't know if I should," the southerner whispered. "It's 
kind of weird."

"Hey," Janice sat up and took Mel's face in her hands and 
looked her directly in the eye. "There is no such thing as weird 
as far as I'm concerned." She moved her hands down to grip Mel's 
shoulders.  "Whatever you like is what you like. Now tell me 
before I have to beat it out of you!" Janice tightened her grip on 
Mel's arms like she was going to shake her and Mel moaned and 
closed her eyes. 

'What the...' Janice thought as she looked at Mel's face. 'She 
liked that. I'll be damned!'  Janice tightened her grip on Mel's 
arms and shook her gently. "Tell me NOW, Mel," she growled angrily 
to see Mel's reaction and she wasn't disappointed. Mel practically 
swooned.  "Ahh..." she said quietly.  "I see." And she grinned 
hugely.

"Janice," Mel breathed heavily as she opened her eyes and 
looked at the archeologist's smile.  "I..." She had hoped that 
Janice wouldn't stop…she just loved this side of her…but it looked 
like she was amused about something. "What? I'm still thinking!"

"I can see that you are," Janice's eyebrows lifted as her 
smile faded. "Mel," she looked serious again. "I just had a 
thought…if you're not too busy, there is somewhere I'd like to 
take you tomorrow. It's a place I doubt you've ever been."

"Where is that?" Mel looked in confusion at Janice. Why was 
the woman talking about tomorrow? Tonight was just starting.

"It's a place I think you'll enjoy," Janice continued. It's 
called the Black Widow."

        "Oh really?" she laid back, putting her head against the back 
of the couch. She closed her eyes and listened to Janice’s voice. 
"Is it around here?" she asked quietly, letting herself sink into 
the warmth of the couch. “I’ve never heard of it.”

        "It's in Charleston, Mel," Janice placed a soft kiss on Mel's 
lips and the woman opened an eye to look at her. "And it's...." 
Janice thought about the club that she hadn't seen in years, and 
how Mel would react. "...I think you'd call it kinky."

        "Oh really?" Mel opened her eye again and looked intently at 
Janice. "Just *how* kinky? I can't go around sullying my 
reputation, you know." She tried to suck in her cheeks to look 
sophisticated and failed utterly. Janice laughed.

        "Don't worry," she said. "No one will know we are there."

        "Oh, so you're going too?" Mel grinned as her eye closed 
sleepily, she yawned. "That'll be nice." She leaned over, 
snuggling into Janice and immediately fell into a deep sleep. 

        Janice lifted the afghan up over the both of them  cuddling 
Mel’s head in her lap.  She looked into the fire. 'This is going 
to be one *long* night,' she thought to herself, as she traced her 
finger along a soft cheek. 'But I wouldn't change it for 
anything.'

Mel cracked open an eye. It was morning, and she was still on 
the couch. She raised her head slightly, ignoring the pain in her 
neck and looked for Janice, half afraid she'd be lying next to 
her.  But she was alone, though she was covered by the afghan. 
Stretching, she looked over to see her glasses had been placed on 
the end table, along with a note. It looked like Janice’s 
handwriting. She picked up the note and held it up close to her 
eyes to look at it, but a terrible pounding  in her head made her 
wince. 'Oh my,' she thought, her hand going to her forehead 'I 
don't know why I let her talk me into these things.' 

        "Rise and shine everyone!" Janice walked into the sitting 
room and pulled the heavy curtains back, hitting Mel right in the 
face with a shaft of blinding light. 

        "Aaaagh!" Mel groaned and pulled her head underneath the 
afghan. "Oh god..." She groaned again as her stomach gained a life 
of it's own. She curled herself into a ball.

        “What's the matter, Mel? Not feeling well this morning?” 

        Mel groaned all the way up from her toenails and into her 
hair.

“What a shame! And when it’s such a beautiful day!" Janice 
came over and sat down on the couch by the southerner. She reached 
over and started massaging the tense shoulders.

        "Uhhhhhh......" Mel moaned as she realized that dying 
couldn't feel this bad. In fact, it might feel better. "You could 
say that," she breathed, almost afraid to move her eyes.

        "Well, I've got something that will fix you right up," Janice 
grinned. "It's my own recipe."

        "What is it? I'll try anything..."

        "Anything?" Janice stood up and walked over to a nearby table 
and brought it back. "Here," she said, putting the glass under 
Mel's nose. "I don't have a name for it, but it works."

        Mel opened her eyes after trying for several seconds and 
looked down into the glass that Janice was offering her. "It looks 
like...like..." Suddenly an incredibly offensive odor hit her 
nose, and she found herself on her feet and throwing up into a 
huge antique vase.

        "Just for future reference...don't look at it, drink it," she 
grinned as Mel moaned. "I promise that you'll feel better if you 
do. I've never known this little concoction to fail."

        "I don't know," Mel protested as she sat back down beside 
Janice. "It looks disgusting, and smells even worse!” She held her 
stomach as it rolled around once more.  What's in it?"

        "Trust me, you're better off not knowing," Janice held the 
glass up once again. "And I told you, don't look at it, or smell 
it, either.  Ready to try?"

        Mel looked at the glass, unable to stop herself, then at 
Janice, then back at the glass. She frowned.

        "Mel, just drink it. It's not going to kill you." Janice put 
the glass in Mel’s hand and guided it to her mouth. She got a 
enormous glare for her trouble.

        "Janice, I am not a child. I think I can do this on my own," 
Mel held her breath and swallowed the strange looking liquid, not 
stopping until she had drained the glass.

        "That's great," Janice smiled and took the glass from the 
southerner's hand. She brushed several wisps of hair of raven hair 
from the beautiful, but pale face, and was rewarded with a half 
smile. "How do you feel now?" she asked.

        "Not as bad as before," Mel leaned back against the back of 
the couch and closed her eyes for a moment.  It was true. She 
didn't feel quite as bad. Her head still hurt, but the nausea was 
going away. She opened her eyes and looked at Janice. "Thank you," 
she said sincerely.

        "You're welcome." Janice returned the smile. "I told you it 
would work."

        "Oh, not for that," Mel put her hand on Janice's knee and 
squeezed gently. "For last night."

        Janice's eyebrows lifted slightly as she felt the hand 
caressing her leg.  The woman's touch was electric, even through 
the fabric of her trousers.  "Oh that," she breathed. "Anytime."

        "You mean that?" Mel searched Janice's eyes for a sign of how 
the archeologist felt about it. She didn't want to intrude, or be 
too forward, or have Janice be uncomfortable. She knew she felt 
incredibly comfortable with Janice, and wanted her to feel the 
same way. She felt like hugging the smaller woman, but wondered if 
Janice would be all right with that. Without thinking about it, 
she slid her hand up the archeologist’s thigh.  

        "Melinda!," Janice practically jumped out of her skin.  She 
had been wondering what it would be like to kiss the tall southern 
woman, and was getting ready to lean over and try when...

        "What!!?!" Mel jumped in surprise at Janice's outburst. 
"What's wrong?"

        Janice practically choked at the surprised look on Mel's 
face, then she started to laugh. Mel looked confused for a moment, 
and then angry.

        "Oh Mel," she grinned. "You're something else."

        "I am?" Mel made a face and stared at Janice. "What am I?"

        "You're constantly amazing me," Janice looked into the deep 
azure eyes. "You know, you're nothing like I thought you'd be when 
I first met you."

        "I'm not?" Mel turned over on her side and faced Janice. "Why 
do you say that?"

        "You're funny, you're smart...you're a strong person." Janice 
clasped a soft  hand in both of her own.  "When I first met you, I 
thought you were this wimpy southern belle who didn't  know the 
first thing about archeology. And you proved me wrong. And then I 
thought you would be weak and silly. It's a stereotype, I'm 
sorry." She kissed the back of Mel’s hand. "But once again you 
proved me wrong." She let her lips linger and the southerner 
smiled, and her eyes grew wide.

        Mel found that her mouth was open, she closed it quickly and 
tried to compose her thoughts.  "I believe that I have seen a 
different side of you too…" she said slowly as she looked at 
Janice who now had her cheek against Mel's hand. It was all she 
could do to concentrate. "I've thought you were a hard as 
nails, don't screw with me, bitch."

        Janice looked up in surprise and shock. "What?!" she said.

        Mel laughed, and then held her head for a moment a bit of 
dizziness passed. "I was kidding," she said. She noticed the 
relieved look on Janice's face. "About the hard as nails bit, 
anyway," she grinned. 

        Janice looked at her again, her eyebrows knitting together. 

        "No Janice, I've always believed that there was a soft side 
to you. And last night you showed it to me. Thank you for that." 
Mel reached over with her free hand and cupped the blonde woman’s 
cheek.

        "Just don't tell anybody about it, Mel," Janice frowned as 
she squeezed Mel's hand. "I wouldn't want it to get out, you know. 
I've worked hard to cultivate my  reputation as the hard as nails, 
bitch from hell." She looked serious. "Haven't you ever heard of 
me, Mel?  I'm the woman your daddy warned you about." Janice let 
go of Mel's hand and kneeled down on the floor in front of her. 
She put her hands on Mel's right knee and slid them down to her 
ankles. The southerner could only stare as the archeologist 
began massaging her legs and feet.  She laid her head back on the 
couch and sighed. Janice looked up into Mel's face with a half-
smile on her lips. "And don't you know that I lure young, 
beautiful women into a life of perversion?" she said softly.

        Mel started to laugh, but caught herself when she saw the 
serious look on Janice's face. "You do?" she asked quietly, 
uncertain as to where this conversation was going "How do you do 
that?" She moaned as Janice's strong fingers worked on the arch of 
her right foot. "That feels exquisite," she breathed and closed 
her eyes.

        "I tell them how beautiful they are," Janice grinned, happy 
to see how relaxed Mel had become. She couldn't believe just how 
soft Mel's skin was, and she was enjoying every second of it. "And 
how much I'd like to kiss them," she leaned down and kissed Mel's 
toes.

        Mel opened an eye and looked down at Janice, a smile 
threatening to break on her face. "And then what?" she asked, 
watching as Janice started working on her other leg. It was 
mesmerizing to watch the archeologist's fingers working the 
muscles in her leg. "It's fascinating," she whispered.

        "Is it?" Janice leaned over and kissed Mel's left foot, and 
started massaging her way up the firm calf. "Yes it is," she 
agreed and looked up at Mel, who was watching her intently. 
"What?" she asked, squeezing the southerner’s knee. "You look as 
if you have something to ask me."

        "You never answered my question last night," Mel whispered as 
Janice's hands stayed on her knees. She could feel the heat 
between her thighs that Janice's touch was generating, and she was 
hoping that Janice wouldn't stop any time soon.

        "Which question was that?" Janice crossed her arms and 
propped her chin up on Mel's knees. She looked up into the 
southerners face, which had turned a light shade of pink. Oh, it 
must be *that* question,' she thought. 'Well, I'm not going to 
help her with this one.'

        "You know the question I mean, Janice," Mel looked 
embarrassed. "The one I asked you last night. The one about what 
it was like..."  "Oh, the whip thing!" Janice smirked. "Sarah was 
very talented with it...very talented.  Do you know, she could cut 
the tip off of an ant's antennae at  thirty yards?"  The 
archeologist looked wistful for a moment and then looked deeply 
into the southerners eyes. "Do you know just how erotic whipping 
someone can be, Mel? I don't mean the kind of whipping that draws 
blood, but the kind that is meant to excite someone.  It can be 
one of the most sensuous things on this earth. To control all of 
that power, and have someone willingly submit themselves to it. 
You just can't imagine the rush. And, I've also heard that being 
under the lash is extremely stimulating as well. Especially if 
you're tied up and can't move..."

        "Not THAT!!!" Mel interjected quickly. She felt a flood of 
desire between her thighs at Janice's words and she fidgeted, 
trying to straighten her blouse. She knew her underwear must be 
taking a workout.  She looked into Janice's unreadable expression. 
'Is she trying to drive me crazy on purpose, or is it just me? she 
wondered.  "The SEX thing!" she blurted out quickly, hoping to get 
on safer ground. Though after she said it, she wonder what in the 
blazes she had been thinking.

        "Ah..." Janice smiled crookedly. She leaned over further to 
look intently into the azure eyes, and pressed her breasts against 
Mel’s legs. "Why do you want to know?"

        Mel took a deep breath and tried to look exasperated, but the 
feel of Janice's breasts against her legs was distracting.  
"Janice," she said, "I'd just like to know.  I think it's..." She 
searched for a word that would fit. "Intriguing?" she offered.

        Janice nodded, her eyes twinkling. "I see," she said, her 
smile growing.  "But it's kind of hard to express in words," she 
explained. "You really need to experience it yourself to fully 
appreciate the nuances."  She licked her lips and she noticed that 
Mel was watching her mouth. 'Hmmm,' she thought and grinned to 
herself.  "Though I can tell you that a woman is extremely warm 
and soft." She reached up and ran her fingers down Mel's forearm, 
causing goosepimples to break out on her skin. "And that it's an 
entirely different experience from having sex with a man."

        "I can see how it would be," Mel breathed softly. "Most of 
the men I've known..." She shook her head. "Never mind...what 
else?"

        "No man can know your body like a woman can." Janice slid her 
fingers lightly up Mel's arms until they were even almost to her 
shoulders. "And a woman knows what feels good." She ran her 
fingertips gently down over Mel's breasts, lightly tracing the 
soft, round shape through the material of the blouse. Mel closed 
her eyes and leaned her head back on the couch as Janice explored 
her breasts. She felt as if she wanted to melt right then and 
there. 

        Janice rubbed her palm over Mel's breasts, enjoying the 
sensation. She was surprised once again at the reaction she was 
getting. She had never expected to be allowed to go this far. 
'Serves me right to make assumptions,' she thought. She looked up 
at the woman she cared about more than any other, noticing that 
her eyes were closed. "Mel," she whispered, "are you sleeping?"

        "Yes," came the soft reply. "And I'm having the most 
wonderful dream. Don't you dare wake me up."

        "I won't," Janice whispered back, her hands still caressing 
Mel's breasts. She felt a nipple hardening underneath her hand and 
squeezed  it with her fingers. Mel gasped. Janice only smiled. 
"Oops, did I wake you?" she asked innocently, and squeezed the 
other one. 

        Mel opened her eyes and raised her eyebrow at the 
archeologist.  "What do *you* think?" she asked, looking down at 
Janice's hands on her breasts. The heat from the blonde woman's 
hands penetrated through the silk material of her blouse like 
there was nothing there at all. She looked up at Janice again 
and reached out and touched her face, caressing the soft cheek. 
"Is there any more knowledge that you have to share, Doctor 
Covington?" Mel's fingers explored Janice's eyelids, cheeks, nose 
and chin, memorizing every dip, line and curve. She never wanted 
to forget this woman's face.

        "I'm sure there are a few more things I could tell you," 
Janice smiled, and Mel's fingers traced her mouth. Janice moved 
her fingers slowly down until she was on the firm stomach.

        "Tell me," Mel felt her heartbeat increase as she felt the 
blonde woman's hands move down her stomach to her waist. "Please."
"Well," Janice hooked her fingers underneath the edge of Mel's 
skirt and jerked, noticing the increase in the southerner's 
breathing. "When you're with someone you love, that person's 
happiness is all that matters. It should come before your own."

        "That goes without saying," Mel agreed. She felt Janice's 
hands slide down around her hips and down her legs to the bottom 
of her skirt. 'I am going to die...right here,' Mel thought.  
Janice's fingers slid under her skirt and were slowly pushing it 
up.  The sensation of the gentle fingers on her thighs had sent 
her heart rate into overload. She realized she could hardly 
breathe. 'God is gonna strike me dead. I just know it...' She 
heard Janice speaking again.

        "Your happiness matters to me...very much.  Are you happy?"
Mel looked down into Janice's eyes. She could see just how serious 
her friend was...and what she was really saying. And she thought 
about it. Was this okay with her, really okay? She closed her eyes 
and listened to her heart, and her heart said yes.

        "I'm happy, Janice," she smiled and the blue-green eyes lit 
up. 

        "Then I'm happy too," Janice smiled. She leaned over and blew 
warm air on Mel's inner thigh, causing the southerner to gasp once 
again. "But there's something I'm curious about, Mel," Janice 
looked up into the azure eyes. "Why are you letting me do this?"

        Mel looked at Janice in surprise. That was the last thing she 
had expected. "Because I want you to," Mel answered seriously. 
"Because I...care about you, Janice. And your happiness matters 
very much to me too" She had a thought. "If you're thinking I 
might be going along with this just because I'm afraid to say 
no..."

        "The thought *had* crossed my mind," Janice said seriously. 
"I would really hate for that to be the case, Mel. You know you 
can always say no. I would never do anything..."

        Mel put her fingers on Janice's lips to shush her. "I know 
you wouldn't." She sighed softly as she looked into the 
archeologist's eyes. "I want you to touch me. I really do. And 
there's another reason why I'm doing this." She hesitated for a 
moment. "Because it feels so good," she smiled crookedly.
Janice looked at Mel, wondering if what the woman had said when 
she said she cared, was the same thing Janice had meant. Was it 
just caring as in friendship caring, or did it go deeper than 
that? The thought went around and around for several seconds and 
she discarded it. It was getting too confusing. She slid her hand 
up Mel's thigh until she reached the underwear, and hooked a 
finger underneath them. Mel's eyes grew round and her breathing 
increased dramatically.

        "What are you going to do?" Mel whispered, not at all sure 
she was ready for this.

        "What would you like me to do?" Janice leaned her head 
against Mel's thigh and looked up at where her fingers were 
playing with the silken material, tracing the elastic around the 
southerner's leg.

        "I don't know," Mel felt as if her heart was going to beat 
right out of her chest.

        "You'll find that there are several options," Janice 
explained seriously. "One, I could rip these right off of you," 
she said menacingly, and grabbed the panties in her hand, giving 
them a good tug.  Mel shivered, feeling a fresh flood of moisture 
only inches from Janice's hand. She couldn't help herself, she 
moaned...loudly.

        "Janice," Mel gasped...she felt like she going to go insane 
with desire. She'd never felt this way in her life. She wanted to 
grab the archeologist's hand and...and...do something with it. "Oh 
god," she moaned again as Janice pulled on her underwear again, 
putting pressure between her legs.

        Suddenly, the sound of the telephone made both women jump. 
They looked at each other in surprise as the phone continued to 
ring.

        "The hell with it," Janice growled and glared at the ringing 
monstrosity.

        "No, Janice." Mel put her hand on the archeologist's 
shoulder. "It might be important."

        "Dammit!," Janice cursed as she untangled herself from Mel 
and jumped up to get the phone. "I'm gonna kill whoever this 
is..." She picked up the phone, listened for a few moments and 
hung it up. A huge smile lit up her face.

        "Who was that?" Mel shook herself, trying to come back to the 
real world.

        "It's all set," Janice grinned and sat down next to Mel. "For 
tonight," she explained.

        "You're being very cryptic," Mel frowned at Janice's 
explanation. "Why?"

        "Because I want it to be a surprise. I'm even more convinced 
that you'll love this place, Mel. And you wanted answers...I have 
a feeling you'll get *lots* of them tonight."

        "Oh really?" Mel felt a twinge of...fear? Excitement? Both? 
She wasn't sure. "I think I'd better go up and change my clothes," 
she said quickly. "I really need a bath."

        Janice moved back so Mel could get up. "Sure Mel, whatever 
you think," she said. "I hope I didn't say anything or do anything 
too shocking..." She stood up and adjusted her clothes. 

        Mel stood up and straightened her clothes as well, trying to 
be inconspicuous as she felt around behind her to see if there was 
a damp spot on her skirt. When there wasn't she let out a sigh of 
relief. "You didn't say anything wrong, Janice," she smiled and 
leaned over and kissed the archeologist's forehead. "You just gave 
me an education, is all. And I *did* ask." She grinned.

        Janice smiled back at Mel, relieved that she hadn't gone too 
far. "I'm glad," she whispered. "Because I wouldn't want to scare 
you, or hurt you. I care about you, Mel."

        "I care about you too," Mel looked into Janice's eyes. 'More 
than you know,' she thought. She leaned over and kissed Janice 
softly on the lips, the electricity as they touched surprised them 
both. 

        "Melinda!" Janice smiled up into the deep blue eyes of the 
southerner.  "I..." She reached her hands up into the raven hair 
and pulled the soft lips to touch hers once again. At first the 
kiss was soft and gentle, but it soon became harder and more 
passionate, as both women tried to explore as much of the other as 
they could.  Mel's arms wrapped around Janice, crushing the 
smaller woman to her, but Janice was in heaven, and breathing at 
this point wasn't her top priority. Tasting Mel, was. After 
several minutes, they separated. Mel let Janice go and stepped 
back from her, her eyes almost wild.

        "What is it, Mel?" Janice asked, afraid that the southerner 
was having second thoughts. 

        "I think I'd better go get in that bath now, Janice," Mel 
breathed, her lips still throbbing from the blonde woman's touch. 
"Or I'll never leave this room."

        Janice could clearly see the hunger in the dark-haired 
woman's eyes. It made her feel extremely warm inside. Mel wanted 
her...and oh, how she wanted Mel... "That's probably a good idea," 
she smiled and took Mel's hand to lead her towards the hallway. "I 
won't offer to come up and help you, though." She grinned. "I know 
how you'd hate for me to run my soapy hands up and down your warm, 
naked back..."

        Mel took a huge breath and looked wide-eyed at Janice. She 
stopped and turned to face her. "Janice," she blinked quickly. "I 
would love to feel your hands *all over* my body..." She stopped 
for a moment, almost surprised at herself. "But I'm afraid I..."

        "Don't worry, Mel. It's perfectly okay. I understand. You 
know I would never push you into doing something you weren't ready 
for, don't you?" Mel nodded. "I just want you to know that you can 
trust me," Janice smiled as she saw the returning smile on Mel's 
face "Okay now, go get that shower. In the mean time, I need to 
borrow your car."

        "Borrow the car? That's fine, but where are you going?"

        "It's a secret," Janice's eyes fairly twinkled. "And...it’s a 
surprise. You'll find out when I get back. And it may not be until 
later on this evening. So you can take as long as you want in that 
bath." She grinned evilly as she grabbed the keys off of the 
kitchen table and headed out the front door.  She turned to blow a 
kiss at Mel before she left. "But remember to think of me."

        Janice grinned as she backed the car out of the garage. She 
was trying to not be too excited about the recent developments 
between she and Mel, but was losing the battle. She pulled the 
navy blue Packard Darrin convertible down the driveway and out 
onto the two-lane road leading into Charlotte. She chuckled 
as she thought about Mel's reaction to her sex question. 'Yeah, 
she's curious, all right...' Janice thought. In fact, Mel's 
reactions to her words and her touch had taken her by surprise. 
She had never expected the tall southerner to be interested in her 
at all. Janice had fully expected her desire for the southerner  
to be a one-sided thing. 'Curious,' she thought, ‘hell, she's more 
than curious...she was practically melting into a puddle on that 
couch.' She grinned. 'And so was I.'  But the fact that Mel had 
been curious about it at all had surprised the archeologist. In 
all the time they had known each other, which hadn't been long, 
really...Mel had never shown any kind of interest in her, other 
than friendship. So it had taken Janice by surprise last night 
when Mel began questioning her. And that kiss... Janice touched 
her fingers to her lips in memory. Never had she felt such an 
electricity. She knew she loved Mel...*had* loved her from the 
very start. But she'd had no idea that Mel felt anything remotely 
similar...anything other than just friendship love. She even 
wondered if Mel herself knew what she felt. 'I think she probably 
has a better idea now,' Janice thought to herself an laughed out 
loud. 'I did kind of spread it on a bit thick, there. I wonder 
what she's thinking..."
        
        Mel turned the water on in the bathtub, and then walked back 
into her bedroom to undress. As she stripped off her blouse and 
skirt, her mind was on only one thing. She touched her lips with 
the tips of her fingers remembering where Janice's had touched 
them only minutes before. She heard the sounds of the car engine, 
and walked over to look out the second story window. Janice was 
backing the car out of the garage. Mel watched as the car drove 
down the driveway and out onto the road, then she walked back into 
the bathroom and shut off the water. She continued to undress, 
slipping off her bra, slip and underwear. She sucked in a deep 
breath when she felt just how damp those underwear were.  She 
shuddered, realizing just what and who had caused her strong 
reaction. Never in her life had she felt such a strong desire to 
touch someone, to kiss them, to taste them all over.  Shaking her 
head at such thoughts, she grabbed a washcloth and got into the 
warm liquid.  She couldn't believe that she was feeling such 
things, and she didn't quite know how to react She couldn't 
remember anyone in her family mentioning anything like this! 
If they had she certainly would have remembered!  But, she knew 
that she loved Janice, more than anyone she'd ever known, and that 
it felt very right.   It was always assumed that she would grow up 
and get married to some rich businessman, and have several 
children. Her life had been mapped out from the time she was born. 
At least as far as her parents had been concerned. She had always 
known that she was different. She didn't want that kind of life. 
She didn't want to be tied to some boring life with some boring 
husband. That's one of the reasons she'd answered that letter.  
That letter that Janice had sent her daddy had freed her. It was a 
kind of rebellion. And now she knew that it had been the right 
thing to do. Her life was now her own, and it had taken her 
daddy's death to make it happen.
        
        By the time Janice got back from Charlotte, it was almost 
seven o'clock. Mel was just pulling a roast chicken from the oven 
when Janice walked in, carrying a huge box.

        "What in heaven's name is that?" Mel wiped her hands on a 
dish towel and followed Janice into the sitting room.

        "You'll see...later." Janice grinned as she set the box down 
on the floor.  She looked up at the raven-haired woman standing 
over her. "Oh, and before I forget..." She stood up and placed a 
gentle kiss on Mel's lips. They were exactly as she remembered 
them. Soft and  extremely sweet...a taste she could never get 
tired of.  She lingered for several long moments, just feeling the 
softness, when she felt long fingers glide through  her hair and 
behind her head, pulling her close. "Oh god," she moaned as she 
broke the kiss and buried her face in Mel's neck. "You don't know 
how long I've wanted you to do that," she murmured, placing tiny 
kisses on the southerner's neck. "To feel you against me...to have 
you hold me in your arms." She felt Mel shiver at her words.

        "Janice," Mel pressed her face into the archeologist's hair, 
breathing in  the clean, warm smell. "You don't  know how long 
I've *wanted* to hold you in my arms like this...to kiss you, to 
feel you."

        "How long, Mel?"

        "Ever since you scared those nasty men away from your tent 
with that machine gun."

        "No kidding?"

        "No kidding." Their lips met each other once again for a long 
moment, and then Janice slid her mouth down to Mel's neck, 
nibbling the soft skin. Mel started to laugh. "That tickles," she 
breathed as she reached down and nibbled on Janice's earlobe. But 
the laughter died on her lips as she felt Janice's hands slide 
down over her hips and massage her backside. "Ohhhh...." she said, 
momentarily stricken speechless.

        "Still tickle?" Janice mumbled into Mel's neck, a smile on 
her lips. She loved touching every part of this woman, there 
seemed to be endless new things to find.  A curve here, a valley 
there...all this unexplored territory called out to her like she 
was a blonde David Livingstone.

        "Janice," Mel sucked the archeologist's earlobe into her 
mouth and sucked on it, eliciting a shiver of delight from Janice. 
"You *are* the tease, do you know that?" she whispered as she slid 
her hands up and down Janice's back and then down in a similar 
fashion around the archeologist's behind. Pulling  Janice tightly 
against her, she smiled to herself when Janice moaned.  She 
wiggled her hips suggestively, causing the smaller woman to press 
even tighter against her. Letting go, she cupped Janice's face in 
her hands and kissed her forehead, then looked into her eyes. 
"Hungry?" she asked, trying to look coy, though she was finding it 
hard to breathe. "Dinner is almost ready."

        "Mel," Janice gasped and laughed as she realized that the 
southerner was a fast learner...at both teasing and desire. "I'm 
so hungry I could eat...you!" She opened her mouth wide as if to 
take a huge bite out of Mel's shoulder.

        "Yeah, right...promises, promises..." Mel grinned at her 
friend.  "But let's eat dinner, first."

        "Okay, if you insist," Janice laughed, "but I warn you...I'm 
going to want desert." 

        Dinner was over quickly, and Mel was washing the dishes when 
the phone rang. Janice practically ran to pick it up, almost 
falling over the small statue of Eros in the hallway.

        "Who was that?" Mel asked as she heard Janice come back into 
the kitchen. "Anything important?" She felt Janice's breath on her 
neck and it made her shiver. "It was the curator from the 
Metropolitan, Mel." Janice wrapped her arms around the slender 
form, her fingers playing over the firm stomach.  "He's decided he 
wants to buy those Macedonian urn fragments that we found. They'll 
pay an outrageous price for them...and I'll take it. I have 
absolutely no morals whatsoever.." She laughed and Mel laughed 
with her.

"That's wonderful, Janice!" Mel turned around in the 
archeologist's grasp and looked her in the eye. "Not that you have 
no morals, but that they want to buy them. We have something to 
celebrate!"

"We have a lot more than that to celebrate, Mel." Janice 
brushed her lips across the southerners. "I'm celebrating right 
now. Being here with you is the best time I can imagine." 
Suddenly, there was the sound of a car horn.

"Who in blazes could that be?" Mel looked at Janice in 
surprise. "Are we expecting someone?"

        "Oh no, I forgot how late it is!" Janice pulled Mel over to 
look out the window. There was a long, black car sitting in the 
driveway. "We've got to go!" She ran into the sitting room and got 
the box that she'd carried in earlier. She walked back in, 
carrying it underneath her arm.

        "We're going in THAT?" Mel stared at the black thing in her 
driveway that seemed to just suck up the darkness. "I don't 
know...I’m not even dressed!"

        "Oh come on, be adventurous, Mel!" Janice laughed as she put 
on her leather jacket and hat. "You know you want to..." She 
grinned impishly at the southerner and pulled Mel over to the coat 
rack to help her on with her coat. "And...don't worry about a 
thing," she pulled Mel out the door as the southerner tried to fix 
her hair. "You look absolutely beautiful just as you are... 
stunning... magnificent, even."

"Whatever you say, Janice," Mel grinned.  

The ride in the monstrosity that Janice had called a car 
wasn't quite as bad as Mel had thought. They couldn’t see the 
driver of the car, because there was some sort of partition 
between the front and the back seat. And Janice was not 
forthcoming with any information at all. She wanted this to be a 
surprise, and it definitely was…though it was also quite bizarre. 
It was only a short time before the car stopped, and the driver of 
the car opened the door for them. It was a woman, and she was 
dressed in a man's suit. 'How odd,' Mel thought to herself and 
then noticed that they were in an alley.  What were they doing 
here?

"Thanks Delilah!" Janice hugged and kissed the small red-
haired woman as they exited the car and Mel had to stifle a pang  
of jealousy.  Janice took Mel's arm and led her towards the 
doorway in the building behind them.

"Janice," Mel scanned the alley. "Are you sure we're in the 
right place? This doesn't exactly look like the safest part of 
town..."

"This is the back entrance, Mel," Janice stopped at the door 
and knocked once...then twice...then once again. The door opened.

"Why...Janice Covington! As I live and breathe!..."  Mel 
stepped back as Janice was captured in a enormous hug by a large, 
naked, gray-haired woman that seemed to completely envelop the 
archeologist in her arms. It was almost a minute before she could 
see Janice again, when the woman stepped back. But her eyes were 
drawn to the unusual-looking sight in front of them. Instead of 
being naked as she had first thought, the woman was wearing some 
sort of leather contraption that only covered her in strategic 
places. The rest of it consisted of  straps and thin chains. Mel 
knew she was staring, but she couldn’t help herself. Never in her 
life had she seen such an amazing outfit. 

"How have you been?" The woman was still speaking. "You've 
got to tell me everything."

"I've been fine!" Janice was saying. "And don't worry, I'll 
tell you what I've been up to. But not tonight. I want you to meet 
Melinda." She looked at Mel, and the woman seemed to see the tall, 
dark-haired woman for the first time. Her cherubic face lit up 
with a smile that was almost blinding.

"Oh Janice, you've got yourself a fine one, you do." The 
woman extended her hand to Mel. "My name's Lindy. Nice to meet 
you."

"Charmed, I'm sure," Mel's shook the woman's hand, but then 
her eyes grew wide as she felt herself pulled into a warm hug. She 
looked over at Janice, who only smiled and shrugged.

        "Well come on, you two," Lindy grabbed both women’s hands and 
pulled them through the doorway. "No point standing out here and 
gabbing. You've got more important things to do." She shut the 
door behind them.

        Within moments, they were in what looked like a small, cozy 
office.  Lindy walked around behind the desk and sat down, 
motioning the two women to the chairs in front of her.

        "So...what are we here for tonight?" she asked, looking at 
first Janice, then Mel. Then, seeing Mel's confused expression, 
she looked at Janice. "First time? she asked, and smiled.

        "Yeah," Janice grinned crookedly and looked at Mel who stared 
right back. "First time."

        Lindy opened a file on her desk and wrote something down. 
"Preferences?" she asked without looking up.

        "Don't know yet," Janice answered, still gazing at Mel, who 
by this time was a bit wide-eyed. "But I'm going to *love* finding 
out."

        "Group or individual? Lindy asked, her face still in the 
file.

        "Oh...individual, I think," Janice lowered her eyelids at 
Mel. "This time."

        Mel gave Janice an odd look.

        "Theme?"

        "Hmm..." Janice looked at the dark-haired woman across from 
her in the chair. "Exotic..." she said, almost purring the word. 
"Definitely exotic. Some leather...maybe some chains… I did bring 
some accessories with me.  Delilah is supposed to be bringing them 
in."

        "Bondage, hm?" Lindy said as she wrote it down.

        Mel felt herself getting warm, and she knew it wasn't the 
temperature in the room. She felt nervous and excited at the same 
time...and to her surprise she liked the feeling. Where in the 
world had Janice brought her?  She was dying to find out.

        "Okay," Lindy was saying. "It should only take a few 
minutes." She turned her  gaze on Mel. "So, forgive me for being 
so forward,, Melinda... but since you're a friend of Janice's and 
all. Would you mind terribly if I asked you some questions about 
yourself?" She smiled warmly at Mel.

        Mel shrugged. "I don't have to answer you if I don't like the 
questions."

        Lindy grinned. "That's right...you don't. Good answer!" She 
looked over at Janice who shook her head and smiled.

        "Lindy, you're nuts," Janice sighed and looked at Mel. "Lindy 
is one of my oldest and dearest friends, Mel. We've known each 
other since I was in diapers."

        "You?" Lindy looked at Janice in disbelief. "In diapers? We 
couldn't keep diapers on you, Janice...or clothes either." She 
looked at Mel. "Do you know that we couldn't keep a stitch of 
clothes on this girl? Everywhere she went she would throw things 
off, we'd find a shoe here, a pair of underwear there...we were 
constantly picking things up."

        "And they weren't always mine!" Janice grinned at Mel who 
grinned back. 

        "That's right," Mel said to Lindy, "she almost made me lose 
mine earlier today. But I managed to escape just in time!" She 
grinned and Janice looked like she was going to choke. "So do you 
love her?" Lindy looked directly in Mel's eyes as she asked.

        "Lindy!" Janice looked at her friend in surprise.

        "It's all right Janice, I don't mind." Mel returned Janice's 
friend's smile. "Yes, I do," she said softly. "Very much." Mel saw 
Janice staring at her out of the corner of her eye, but she kept 
her face turned towards Lindy. "I love her with everything that I 
am.  In fact I am so desperately in love with her that it hurts." 
She closed her eyes for a moment to compose herself and felt a 
hand on her arm.

        "You love me, Mel?" Janice had slipped out of her chair and 
was kneeling on the floor beside her chair. "You never told me," 
she whispered.

        "So tell her how you feel, Janice," Lindy grinned at the 
archeologist. "You can't let it go at that!"

        "Sometimes," Janice grinned at the older woman behind the 
desk.  "You talk too much."  She looked at Mel, who seemed lost in 
a trance. "Mel," she whispered softly. "I've been wanting to tell 
you how much I loved you, but I didn't know how you felt. I didn't 
want to scare you away." She lifted Mel's chin so she could look 
into the dark-haired woman's eyes. "That's why I came here to see 
you last night. I wanted to tell you how desperately I missed you 
when you weren't there. I wanted to tell you how much your smile 
always meant to me during those long, hot and very tedious days. 
But Mel, there was no way for me to know that you felt the same. 
You never gave me any sign that you cared about me..." She felt 
Mel's fingers on her lips.

        "Shhh..." Mel was saying. "You're not the only one that talks 
too much. Just shut up and kiss me, Janice."

        Several minutes passed as they were lost completely and 
utterly in only each other.  They had forgotten that anyone else 
was in the room. But when they looked up from the kiss, they 
noticed that Lindy was gone. On her desk was a note.



---You two are a charm! Mel, It was wonderrful meeting
   you. Janice, you know what I think of you, but anyway...
   You're to go to room number 9. And Janice, take 
   care of that sweet girl. She's very special. I feel for
   her, she doesn't deserve someone like you. But then 
   again, you don't deserve her, so you're I guess that 
   makes you perfect for each other.
                                                    --see you soon

                                            love,   Lindy



        Janice could almost hear the laughter emanating from the 
note. "That woman," she laughed as she took Mel's hand to lead her 
to the door. "She's a stitch."

        "But she's right, you know," Mel smiled down at Janice.  "I 
don't deserve you."

        Janice looked up at the woman she loved. She could swear she 
saw tears in Mel's eyes. "If you start that, we'll never go 
anywhere, Mel!" She pulled the tall woman into her arms and kissed 
her cheek. "Now, let's go!"
        
Janice led Mel down the longest hallway she'd ever seen and 
down a flight of stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, they came to 
a large, oaken door with an ancient looking  wrought iron door 
handle in the shape of a ring.  Janice opened the door and led Mel 
into another world.

        It was a jungle. A real jungle! Mel gasped as she saw an 
actual bird fly by. She reached out and touched a tree, and it was 
alive!  "Where are we?" she looked around at all of the lush 
undergrowth and blinked, this was amazing!

        "This is your fantasy, Mel." Janice took the southerner’s 
hand.  “Come on, there's something I want to show you." She led 
the way down a path that seemed to suddenly appear between two 
trees. In moments, they were facing another door, but this one was 
made of stone. Janice pushed on a place next to the door, and it 
swung slowly open, revealing a dimly lit chamber behind it.  

        "We're going in there?" Mel looked dubiously at Janice, not 
at all sure what she was getting into. "It looks a 
little....scary," she frowned.

        "Good," Janice said as she took Mel's hand once again and led 
her into the room. Then as Janice  proceeded to light several 
candles, Mel looked around them. It looked like a fairly ordinary, 
though quite ornate bedroom. The only odd thing about it seemed to 
be the choice of color. Everything was in varying shades of black 
and red. There was a huge canopy bed in the exact center of the 
room, draped with some kind of sheer material. The bedspread 
looked like velvet, and there were mounds of crimson-colored satin 
pillows scattered all over the head of the bed, and off onto the 
floor. Off to one side there was a large stone fireplace, and what 
looked like some sort of basin next to it.  On the other side of 
the bed there was a large oaken table with several bottles on it. 
It also had huge steel rings sunk deep into the heavy wood.  She 
shivered at the though of what those rings might be for.

"What do you think?" Janice asked as she lit several more 
candles.

        "Uh...it's nice?"

        "Nice? You think so?" Janice kept on lighting the candles. 
"Not exactly a word I would have used. But it'll do." She turned 
around and gazed at the southerner who was looking puzzled. "How 
are you feeling? She asked.

        "Fine, I guess."

        "Just fine?" Janice walked over to the bed and sat down, 
motioning Mel to come over and sit next to her. As she did, the 
archeologist rubbed her back with one hand. "Nothing else?"

        "Uh, I suppose I feel a bit nervous," Mel admitted as she 
tried to relax. "This is an interesting  place. Though maybe a bit 
overdone…"

        "Ah...now we have interesting…good!" Janice smiled as she 
pulled Mel over next to her.  "And as far as the furnishings go, I 
agree with you.” She laughed, but then quickly sobered. “Are you 
ready for this," she asked, her fingers playing against Mel's 
ribs. “If you think it’s too much too soon…”

        "I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about all of this. 
It is a bit overwhelming…but very exciting…" Mel whispered, the 
feelings she had tried to keep inside all day threatening to spill 
over and out all over Janice. "I do love you," she whispered. "And 
I want to touch you...to *make* love to you. I want it so much I 
can taste it."  The desire to touch, taste and feel Janice almost 
overwhelmed her for a moment, and she looked into her love's eyes. 
“I’ve been thinking,” she said carefully, “about what we were 
talking about this morning…about your…your friend and what she 
taught you. ” She stammered, unable to say what she really wanted.  
“You know…the one with the ant!”

        "Janice's eyes fairly glowed in the candlelight. "And?" 

        “I really want to try it.”

        Janice got up and walked over to the fireplace. She touched a 
match to some rolled-up newspapers and threw it in on the logs.  
After only a moment, the wood caught, and a nice blaze started 
up. She stood looking at the flames for a moment as Mel stared 
incredulously at her back.

        “Janice,” Mel whispered at the fire lit form. “What are you 
doing?”

        For an answer, Janice walked over next to the bed and bent 
over, her form hidden by darkness. When she stood back up, she had 
something in her hand. “Mel,” she said, walking over to stand by 
the tall, dark-haired southerner, the coiled up whip in her hand. 
“I want you to take off your clothes…now!”  Mel looked at Janice 
in surprise. The archeologist just stared back at her.  "But.." 
she started to protest, but then she asked herself why. She wanted 
to do it. "All right," she said, unbuttoning her blouse, and at 
the same time kicking off her shoes. She felt a slight flush of 
embarrassment as Janice stared at her so boldly. Her clothes felt 
hot on her skin as she noticed how Janice’s fingers played along 
the tight leather lacing of the whip…caressing it. She pulled her 
blouse off quickly and threw it on the floor.  She reached behind 
her back and unzipped her skirt, sliding it down over her hips and 
to the floor. She stepped out of it and looked up.  "You do 
realize that I've lured you in, don't you?" Janice said seriously, 
her eyes hooded. "I warned you about what a evil, conniving, woman 
I am. And you didn't listen....and here you are. You realize 
you're probably going to go to hell now..."  Mel stared at Janice 
in mild surprise. She knew that the blonde woman was kidding...or 
was she?

        "I don't think..."she began, but Janice cut her off.

        “Keep going.”

        She looked down at her hands. They were shaking…out of fear, 
embarrassment or excitement, she didn’t know. But she reached down 
to lift her slip up over her head when she felt Janice’s whip 
underneath her chin…lifting it. She looked into the softest blue-
green eyes she had ever seen.   

"I want you, Mel," Janice whispered. "I want to drive you to the 
edge of insanity with desire and then watch you beg for release." 
She ran her fingers over Mel’s bare shoulder. "I want to run my 
fingers through your hair, down over your body and down in between 
your legs, Mel." Janice did just that, running her hand through 
the long, black hair, over high, firm breasts and down to barely 
brush a bare thigh.  But the effect was electric. Mel gasped  as a 
rush of desire hit her so strong that she almost swooned. How 
could words affect her so much? Words and this woman she loved, 
she reminded herself.

        Janice leaned up and kissed soft lips for a moment, biting 
Mel’s bottom lip as she backed away, leaving the southerner weak 
in the knees. “Now, “ she said firmly. “Finish it.”

        Mel stood up straight, determined to make it until she got 
undressed before she fainted. She pulled off her slip and threw it 
at Janice, who caught it and pressed it against her face, taking 
several deep breaths. Mel felt herself shiver at the erotic play, 
and she nervously licked her lips. Noticing that she was being 
watched intently again, Mel felt a little bit self conscious. But 
she kept on moving so she wouldn't start thinking about what she 
was doing  She reached up behind her back and unhooked her bra, 
letting it fall over her shoulders and down over her arms. She 
caught it in her hand and threw it at Janice as well, eliciting a 
small smile from the blonde woman. Two could play at this game, it 
seemed.

        Janice walked over closer to Mel, who was standing in only 
her underwear and hose at this point. "Don't stop," she instructed 
as she circled Mel like a bird of prey coming in for the kill. 
"You wouldn't want me to punish you for disobeying now, would you? 
I can tell you right now, that I'm fierce when I don't get my 
way."

        "P…punish me?" Mel swallowed hard at the implications. Just 
what would Janice do to her, she wondered. She reached up and slid 
her hands underneath her hose and underwear, and slipped them both 
off. She stood back up and looked at Janice, but the archeologist 
was bending over looking at something else on the other side of 
the bed. She would have to find out what in heavens name was over 
there! When the archeologist stood up, she had several lengths of 
coiled rope in her hand. She walked back over to Mel, who was 
suddenly finding it hard to breathe.

        “What are you going to do with THAT?” the southerner’s voice 
came out sounding like a squeak.

        “Oh, you’ll find out,” Janice grinned, taking one of Mel’s 
hands and tying a length of rope around both of her wrists.  She 
pulled Mel over to the bed and fastened one rope to a ring on the 
end of the bed. She pulled it snug, and then went over to tie the 
other one. Mel felt a shiver run over her skin from her feet , up 
her back and into her hair. 

“You’re tying me up!” she said incredulously as the 
implications hit her. She looked at the knots on her wrists to see 
if she could untie them, but she realized that it would be 
impossible. They were tied in an intricate knot that would 
definitely take two hands to undo. She felt a jerk as her arm was 
pulled into place. She was now standing facing the bed, her arms 
stretched out between the end posts.

“How do you feel?” Janice was standing behind her, her warm 
breath sending another wave of shivers down Mel’s spine.

“I feel like I’m naked and tied up, Janice.” Mel pulled on 
the ropes, but there was no give. “How am I supposed to feel?” she 
asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. She tried to turn around 
and see Janice, but she couldn’t quite move far enough. “What are 
you doing?” she asked, getting a bit nervous. Suddenly, she felt 
hands on her ankles. Janice was tying her legs too! “I don’t know 
about this…” she squirmed and realized she could hardly move.

“If you *really* don’t want me to do this, Mel…I’ll untie 
you,” Janice blew a warm stream of air up the southerner’s bare 
leg as she stood back up, causing a shudder to run through the 
slender frame. “Do you want me to let you go? I will…if you desire 
it.” She whispered the last words into the nape of Mel’s neck, 
nuzzling her nose in the fragrant hair.  

Mel felt as if she couldn’t get her breath. Janice’s nearness 
to her naked body was making all of her nerve endings cry out to 
be touched. She tried to move her left leg, but there was only a 
small amount of give, and only outwardly. She could spread her 
legs further apart, but not closer together. The realization of 
what that meant struck her suddenly, and she felt very exposed. 
And to her surprise, very aroused. An aching deep within her that 
she hadn’t realized was there, suddenly made itself known. She 
leaned her head back against Janice’s and took a deep breath, 
letting it out slowly. Trying to calm herself. 

“No,” she breathed softly, “I like it.”

“Good,” Janice purred in her ear. “First of all, we’ll get 
rid of these…” She reached up and pulled Mel’s glasses off and put 
them on the table. “Do you realize that I can do anything to you 
now, and you can’t fight me?” Janice purred in her ear. “I can 
touch you…here,” she touched Mel on the right shoulder. “Or here,” 
she moved her hand to touch the left breast, circling the areola 
with her finger, avoiding the hardening nipple.

Mel gasped. She couldn’t believe how she was feeling. 
Janice’s innocent touches were starting a flame deep inside. The 
aching need that she felt before spread out and dove between her 
legs. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. But within 
moments, Janice’s hand moved away, and was replaced by a soft 
tickling at the back of her knee. She opened her eyes, and tried 
to see what it was. But it moved up the back of her thigh and over 
her butt, gently dipping in the crevice and back out again. It 
went down the other thigh and then back up, this time dipping down 
deeper between her legs. She felt her hips jerk  in response, the 
flame within her bursting into a full blown fire.  Janice moved 
the feather up and down Mel’s back and around to her stomach. 
Running it lightly up over both breasts and over Mel’s face. A 
moment later, she leaned closer, moving the feather and replacing 
it with her lips. She kissed a line of feather light kisses across 
a quivering shoulder. Mel threw her head back, trying to see what 
was going on, but Janice moved to the other side and kissed the 
other shoulder. She knew she had to be careful. Mel’s reactions 
were pretty strong already. She leaned down and picked up her whip 
from the floor, letting it uncoil.. She turned away from Mel, 
snaking it out in front of her and cracked it, testing her 
reflexes. Mel jumped as if she’ d been shot.

“Janice!” she whispered hoarsely, her mouth suddenly gone 
dry.

“Yes?” 

“Uh…” Mel started to shiver, uncontrollably. She felt scared, 
but at the same time she wanted it so badly it was almost a 
physical sensation.

“Are you thirsty?” She heard Janice ask from behind her.  Mel 
nodded…and  felt a warm body pressing up against her back. 
Apparently somewhere along the line, Janice had taken off her 
shirt...and… pants…she could definitely feel soft skin all the way 
down her legs. She felt Janice’s breasts press up against her back 
and then go away. She groaned in disappointment.

“Don’t worry.” Janice finally walked around to where Mel 
could see her. She had a bottle of wine in her hand. “I’ve got 
just the thing.” She took a huge swig and swallowed it, and then 
got up on the bed, crawling towards Mel on her hands and knees…all 
the world like a stalking panther approaching it’s prey. She 
pulled the wine bottle over and gave Mel a drink, watching as 
several droplets escaped and ran down her chest. “Feel better?” 
she asked and Mel nodded. Janice took another long draught of the 
wine and leaned over to kiss Mel deeply, letting some of the 
strong tasting liquid flow into the southerners mouth. Mel looked 
at her in surprise, but didn’t pull away. She lapped at Janice’s 
mouth like a kitten, sucking on her tongue and lips to get all of 
the sticky liquid. “Mmm,” she moaned in pleasure and Janice 
took several more mouthfuls and gave them to Mel. But then 
stopped, afraid the southerner would start to feel it too 
strongly.  

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Fine,” Mel looked closely at Janice for the first time. She 
marveled at the firm stomach, the well developed arms and 
shoulders. Her eyes roamed over the firm breasts and down to the 
red curling hairs of Janice’s sex. She knew she was staring, but 
she was beyond caring. She couldn’t remember the last time 
she had seen a woman naked, except for herself. It must have been 
years upon years! But she certainly didn’t remember anyone 
affecting her like this. She strained against the ropes, trying to 
reach out and touch the tantalizing flesh only a short distance 
from her hands. She groaned in frustration. “Janice,” she 
said. “Untie me. I want to touch you.”

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Janice frowned at Mel. “I’m not done 
with you yet.” She moved off of the bed, and moved behind Mel once 
more…picking up the whip. She cracked it in the air above Mel’s 
head.  Mel jumped  again, her senses on overload.  All of this 
teasing had built her up to almost a breaking point. She wished 
Janice would just do it and…

*CRACK* 

The lash snaked out and went across Mel’s back, sending a 
shot of pure adrenaline into Mel’s loins. “Oh GOD!” she yelled, 
and grabbed the ropes binding her arms with both hands. 

*CRACK* 

The lash came down again, this time on the left side of her 
back, sending another jolt of pleasure up and down her spine and 
into her sex. She moaned loudly as the lash snaked across her bare 
back several more times, driving her beyond any sense or sensation 
she had ever felt before. She took a deep breath, willing her 
heart to be still, as it was threatening to beat completely out of 
her chest. 

*CRACK* 

This time, the lash came down across her butt, the tip biting 
her next to her left hip. She bit her lip and groaned as a flood 
of desire let loose and ran down her thigh.  Suddenly, she felt 
Janice pressed up behind her, her arms wrapped around to caress 
her breasts.  She could feel the dampness of Janice’s hunger 
against her backside, and she pressed into it, eager for anything 
to quench her own raging desire. She felt one of the hands 
exploring her breasts slide down her stomach and through her 
curls. She felt Janice slip one finger inside of her, and she 
almost fainted with relief.  The finger slid around for several 
moments in her and she moaned, her body starting to shiver 
once more.  But after only a few seconds, the hand was suddenly 
pulled away. “Nooo!” She growled, her body screaming for some sort 
of release.

“It’s only for a moment,” she heard Janice whisper, and then 
felt her hands and feet being untied. Within seconds, the ropes 
were off, and she was pressed back against the mattress…a very 
aroused archeologist straddling her hips.

        “I’m going to TAKE you, Mel.” Janice growled as she rubbed 
herself against Mel’s stomach, smearing her juices all over the 
soft skin. “I’m going to make you mine…forever.” She slid down to 
straddle Mel’s left thigh, her hand moving down to play in the 
patch of soft, black hair.

        “Janice, I am going to kill you right now!” Mel groaned as 
Janice kept avoiding touching her where she wanted to be touched 
so desperately. She reached up and ran her fingers over Janice’s 
breasts, feeling their weight. She pinched a nipple, holding on,  
and Janice gasped. “I’m not kidding!” she said, her voice taking 
on a desperate tone as she reached down and grabbed the 
archeologist’s hips, pulling the smaller body tightly against her. 
Janice reached behind her leg and slid her fingers into the warm 
cleft. She rubbed the neglected nub, rubbing in a circular motion. 
At the same time, she pressed herself against Mel’s hip. 
Immediately, Mel started to moan, her hips keeping time with 
Janice’s caresses.  But it was when the archeologist slipped a 
finger deep inside of her that her world exploded. Her body came 
up off of the bed in a spasm that just about made her black out. 
She pulled Janice to her in a fit of strength and lifted her leg, 
sending the blonde woman off into a fit of rapture of her own. 
They held on to each other desperately as the aftershocks made 
them tremble and shake, both unable to catch their breath for a 
long moment. 

When their heartbeats began to return to normal, Janice 
crawled up into Mel’s arms and laid her head on the quivering 
shoulder. She saw that Mel was crying.

“What’s wrong, Mel? Did I hurt you?” The thought that maybe 
she had caused the woman she loved any pain made Janice’s heart 
contract painfully. She watched as Mel turned over and curled into 
a little ball. “Oh god, if I hurt you, I’m sorry!” She put a hand 
on the southerner’s shoulder.

“Oh Janice, I love you…” Mel pulled the archeologist to her 
as she rolled back over on her back, kissing Janice’s face. “…and 
no, you didn’t hurt me.  I’m just a bit…overwhelmed, I guess.”

“So you liked it?” Janice looked at Mel, a shy look on her 
face. “I was hoping you would…”

“Well ,of course I liked it, silly!” Mel teased, kissing the 
smaller woman’s eyebrows, eyelashes and nose. She stopped for a 
moment and looked at Janice seriously. “But I hope I wasn’t too 
forward…”she lowered her eyes, “…at the end there.”

        “Mel, I do believe you’re blushing!” Janice grinned at the 
pink tinge that crept up the southerner’s neck and face. She 
lifted herself up on one elbow and kissed Mel’s cheek. “That’s 
amazing!”

        “What is?” 

        “That you can be so shy after what we just did. You were like 
a wild animal!”

        Mel blushed even harder, causing Janice to grin even more in 
response.  “Tell me something…” she said, running her fingertip 
over Janice’s lips. “…how did you learn to do that?”

        “To smile? It was easy. When I was a baby….” 

        “No, I mean…how did you learn how to make love to a woman? I 
sure don’t remember seeing any books on the subject anywhere.”

        “Oh that.” Janice got up and walked over to the table and 
picked up the wine bottle. She upended it and took several huge 
swallows, and then walked back over to the bed. She handed it to 
Mel who took several long swallows of her own and handed it back 
to her. She stuffed the cork back in it and laid it on the bed. 
“Lindy was my first teacher.”

        “Lindy? That sweet old woman upstairs?”

        “The same.” Janice slid in next to Mel once again and laid 
her head on the southerner’s shoulder, nuzzling her nose in the 
warm, raven hair. “She may be old, but she’s got a lot of spunk.” 
She grinned as she kissed the curve of Mel’s neck. “My father knew 
her in Iraklio.”

        “On the island of Crete?”

        “Yeah. When I was very young he left me with Lindy for safe 
keeping. He knew I would be safe with her, and he was right. I 
loved her very much…and I still do. She’ll always be very special 
to me.”

        Mel pulled Janice tightly against her and kissed her gently. 
“I believe there’s a heart in there, after all!” she teased. 
“You’re not quite the hard as nails, unfeeling bad girl that you 
let on to be.”

        Janice laughed as she sat up and took another swig of the 
wine, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.  “I’ve got to 
keep up appearances, you know. I can’t have people thinking that 
I’m soft.”

        “But you are…very soft, Janice...and in some of the most 
interesting places.”  Mel smiled sweetly at Janice, who was 
sitting next to her leg.  “So what did she teach you?” She reached 
out and  ran her fingers up the archeologist’s thigh. “Something 
you can share? You know I’m already going to hell…I might as well 
be really and truly corrupted when I get there.” She reached the 
top of Janice’s leg and swirled her fingers around in the soft, 
curling hairs.

        Janice raised her eyebrows as she looked down at herself.   
Mel’s gentle touch was very erotic, and very stimulating. “Wait,” 
she said, taking Mel’s hand in her own and bringing to her lips. 
“I’ll show you what she taught me…but you need to sit up and face 
me.”

        “Okay,” Mel got up on her knees and faced Janice. “Now what?”

        “I want you to close your eyes.” She sat back on her heels 
for a moment when she saw the suspicious look on Mel’s face. 
“Don’t worry, you don’t have to open your mouth…just yet.”

        Mel made a face and then closed her eyes…slowly. She jumped 
when she felt something placed around her head and over her eyes. 
She could feel Janice’s warm breath on her ear. “What are you 
doing?” she asked, a tingling already starting in the pit of her 
stomach.

        “It’s okay…” she heard whispered in her ear, “…this is only 
here to keep your mind on what you feel, rather than what you see. 
If you feel uncomfortable with this, I can easily take it off.” 
She felt a tug at the back of her head as the blindfold was tied. 
She felt a little nervous at not being able to see, but she knew 
Janice wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. “I’m fine, Janice,” she 
heard herself say. “This is exciting.”

        “That’s great,” Janice smiled to herself. “Okay. Now…what do 
you feel?”

        Mel thought about it for a moment. “The softness of the bed, 
the heat from the fireplace, and the 
wine...a little.”

        “Good. Very good. Now…I want you to put your hand out in 
front of you.”

        Mel held out her left hand, and Janice took it in her own 
right hand. She guided it towards the 
southerner’s face 

        “I’m going to keep my hand with yours, and I want you to 
start touching your face. Make sure you touch everything… gently… 
lightly… as if a… feather were caressing your skin. And go only 
where you feel the most comfortable. We can stop anytime you 
want.”

        Mel ran her fingers lightly over her face, touching her nose, 
her eyes, mouth  and ears.  Janice’s hand stayed on top of her 
own, her fingers interlacing with Mel’s…not guiding, but following 
the lead of the gentle touch.  She stopped for a moment, and then 
ran their fingers down her neck, down between her breasts and over 
her stomach…then back up to circle both breasts, and finally 
taking the one in her hand. She lightly slid the tips of her 
fingers over the nipple, which tightened from the erotic touch. 
She heard Janice’s breathing catch as she ran her fingertips over 
the tight nub, sending a jolt of delicious hunger down to settle 
between her legs. She felt her own heartbeat accelerate rapidly.

        “What do you feel now?” Janice asked, realizing she had 
closed her eyes as she had followed along with the southerner’s 
hand.  She opened her eyes to look at Mel, and her eyes roamed 
uninhibited down the southerner’s lithe body, soaking in all of 
the soft dips and curves. 

        “I feel warmer, definitely warmer.”  Mel breathed out slowly, 
as she moved their intertwined fingers down her stomach and around 
her belly button. She inched her hand down and around her lower 
back, around her left buttock, and gasped as her hand grazed the 
sensitive area where the whip had left it’s mark. She felt herself 
begin to tremble as an incredible aching began anew in her loins. 
Gritting her teeth, she lifted their hands and pressed them into 
the heat between her legs, cupping her hand over her sex. She 
could feel Janice’s hand trembling…or was it her own?

         Janice smiled as she watched Mel’s breathing accelerate, her 
own not far behind.  She moved closer so that their bodies were 
only inches apart. “Tell me, Melinda…” she whispered, her voice 
like warm honey. “Have you ever touched yourself like this 
before?”

        Mel’s mouth fell open in surprise. “Yes….I mean no…” she 
breathed softly, the heat of Janice’s hand on hers almost rivaling 
the heat beneath it.  “It was never like this.”

        Janice smiled, and closed her eyes once again. “So you *have* 
touched yourself before,” she whispered as she pressed their hands 
into Mel’s soft curls, causing the southerner to moan.  “Tell me 
about the last time.” She felt the long fingers of Mel’s free hand 
reach out and gently caress her breast. She looked up at Mel’s 
face and was surprised at the look of hunger written there, 
regardless of the fact that the eyes were hidden. “Oh, no you 
don’t,” she said firmly, pulling Mel’s hand from her breast and 
putting it by her side. She almost laughed at the look of 
disappointment on the southerner’s face, but kept still. She 
wanted Mel to experience this on her own, without fear and doubt.. 
“Answer me!” she said in a firm voice, and started to pull her 
hand from it’s warm resting place.

        “No…wait!” Mel gasped as she felt Janice pull away. She 
didn’t want to lose the delicious sensations she was feeling. 
“I’ll tell you…just…don’t…move.” She sighed as she felt Janice’s 
hand return to lie upon her own.  But then a feeling of fear 
returned as she realized what Janice wanted to know. ‘How 
can I tell her that?’ she thought. ‘I couldn’t even admit it to 
myself a couple of days ago.’ She opened her mouth to say so, when 
she felt the bed moving…Janice had shifted herself over next to 
her right side. She felt her hair move, and a soft kiss on her 
shoulder….sending goosepimples up and down her skin.

        “Tell me,” Janice whispered fiercely as she nibbled Mel’s 
shoulder, nipping with little bites up to her neck.  She lifted 
the long, dark hair up out of the way, and kissed her way to the 
back of the slender neck, alternately biting and kissing as she 
went. She felt Mel shiver and lean her head back, giving her 
the opportunity to move in behind the taller woman…and never 
moving her trapped hand.
        
Mel felt lost in the sharp pain/ pleasure of Janice’s teeth 
and lips on her neck. She felt like she was floating, and she 
didn’t want to come down. She had almost forgotten about Janice’s 
hand pressed against her until the smaller woman tensed her 
fingers, pressing Mel’s own fingers into her sensitive heat.

        “Are you refusing to answer?” Janice growled into Mel’s ear, 
nipping it lightly. 

        “N…n…no,” Mel stammered as Janice’s warm breath caressed her 
ear. “I’m just…a bit…”

        “Rebellious?” Janice smiled into the raven hair.

        “No…” Mel sighed as she tried to think of how to tell Janice 
something she’d never discussed with anyone else. She didn’t even 
have the words to describe what  she had been feeling. “I just 
don’t know how to start.”

        “Where were you?” Janice asked, as she moved over to torture 
Mel’s other earlobe.

        “In our hotel room in New York,” Mel whispered, trying to 
focus her thoughts on what she was thinking, but was having a hard 
time. She moaned softly as Janice licked the back of her ear, and 
sucked the edge of it into her mouth.

        “Our hotel room? That’s interesting.  During this last trip?”

        “Yes.”

        “When?”

        “That night we met with your friend, Ian.”

        “Ah.  He was quite taken with you, if I remember correctly.” 
Janice moved her mouth down and nibbled Mel’s neck, running her 
free hand down to cup Mel’s right buttock. “And you seemed to like 
him just fine. In fact, I’d say you were flirting with him.”

        “Not really.” Mel was finding it hard to breath. Janice was 
running her fingernails over Mel’s behind, and it was a major 
distraction. “I thought he was nice enough…but I really wanted to 
get back to our room.”

        “So you could do what?” Janice squeezed her behind roughly 
with her fingers, and Mel groaned. “Have fantasies about him? What 
did he make you want to do to yourself?” When Mel hesitated, she 
slapped the southerner hard on the behind eliciting a gasp in 
surprise. “Tell me!” she whispered in a low and dangerous voice.

        “It wasn’t him, it was you!” Mel squeezed out. Her throat 
suddenly gone dry. “I wanted you…desperately. And I didn’t 
understand it. I thought I was going crazy!”

        “Not crazy, Mel…just horny,” Janice grinned, glad that Mel 
couldn’t see her face. “There’s a difference. Though in this 
case…” She tightened her hand against Mel’s and was surprised at 
the flood of wetness that dripped down over her fingers. She was 
amazed that that the southerner openly admitted wanting her. She 
had been so sure that she had really liked her friend Ian.  She 
felt very warm inside knowing that Mel was enjoying this as much 
as she was. “Keep going,” she urged, resisting the compulsion to 
ravish the southerner once again. “Tell me all of it….and don’t 
leave anything out!” She slapped Mel on the behind once 
again…harder.

        “You kept looking at me all through dinner like you wanted to 
take my clothes off.” Mel inhaled quickly as the sting from the 
slap sent a intense sensation of desire to her loins. “And I 
wanted you to…ohhh…how I wanted you to.  I wanted to feel your 
hands all over me, Janice. And I wanted to touch you in places…” 
her voice trailed off.

        “Here?” Janice slid her hand up over Mel’s right breast and 
pinched the tight nipple, then slid it over to do the same thing 
to the left nipple. Mel groaned, and lifted her free hand up to 
caress her right breast. 

“Yes,” Mel said her breath growing increasingly ragged. 

“And here…?” Janice slid her fingers that were between Mel’s 
legs back and forth, coating them both with the slick fluid. “Did 
you want to touch me here?”

“God, yes!” Mel groaned at the intense touch.

“And what did you do?” Janice licked Mel’s left shoulder 
blade, leaving a wet trail on her back, and pressing her breasts 
into Mel’s back.  She could feel her own desire building to a 
rapid peak. 

“I…” 

“Yes?”

“I took my clothes off and went to bed.”

“I remember…you did seem a bit tired” Janice did a mental 
double take. The two of them had shared a room, though separate 
beds…and Janice didn’t remember going anywhere that night. “Are 
you telling me you got off…thinking about me…while I was lying 
there???”

“Uh…” Mel wished she was somewhere else at this moment. “I 
guess you could say that,” she said.  ‘And now she’s *really* 
going to think I’m a pervert,’ she thought sadly.

        Janice was a bit surprised to hear that the woman had 
pleasured herself while Janice slept. She would have never have 
thought… “So what did you do?” she asked.

        “I…thought of you kissing me,” Mel rasped as her throat felt 
even more uncomfortably dry. She would have had Janice get the 
wine bottle, but she didn’t want her to move.

        “And?”

        “I felt very warm all over…especially down here.” She wiggled 
her fingers slightly to indicate to Janice where she meant.

        “And then what did you do?” 

        “I didn’t want to, Janice…I couldn’t help myself!” she choked 
out. “I just wanted to touch you so much…and I knew I would never 
be able to….”

        “You didn’t do anything wrong, Mel.” Janice whispered and 
leaned over to pick up the wine bottle She uncorked it and held it 
to the southerner’s lips. Mel swallowed the dark, rich liquid 
greedily. 

“In fact, it’s incredibly erotic that you would have the guts 
to do such a thing.” She licked the index finger of her free hand 
and ran it down around Mel’s breast and around her belly button. 
“So…did it stop with kissing? Is that all you thought about? Just 
us kissing?”

        “No,” Mel bit her lip, still a bit nervous and excited at the 
same time about sharing something so intimate. “I thought about us 
lying down next to each other…and you touched my breasts…”

        “Was I good at it?” Janice smiled in Mel’s hair.

        “Yes,” Mel half smiled to herself in recollection. “You were 
very good.”

        “And you liked that,” Janice ran her hand up and over Mel’s 
hand on her right breast and squeezed firmly. “What else did I 
do?”

        “You touched me down…there.” She nodded her head towards 
their intertwined hands.

        “And you liked that too?” Janice pressed herself up against 
Mel’s back, pressing herself against the softness in front of her.  
She forgot to suppress a groan as she gently rubbed herself back 
and forth, sending a shockwave of feeling through both of them. 
When Mel nodded, she continued. “What did you do?”

        “I…I touched myself like I imagined you would touch me, 
Janice. I lost myself in your hair, your eyes, your caresses…”

        “And did you have an orgasm?”

        “Yes,” Mel swallowed hard…the lump in her throat refused to 
go away. She remembered that night…and how she’d  shuddered as the 
climax had hit her so hard she’d almost cried out Janice’s name. 

“It was scary,” she said finally,  “and I was afraid you’d 
wake up and hear me. But for some reason, that made it all the 
more exciting.”

        “I’m sure it did,” Janice groaned at the thought of Mel 
stimulating herself to orgasm only a couple of feet away. She 
rubbed herself against the softness in front of her once again and 
started their hands moving between Mel’s legs. This time, she 
didn’t stop, but kept the rhythm going, as Mel’s hips thrust hard 
against her.  Mel groaned again, and  leaned back against Janice, 
her head leaning on the archeologist's shoulder. “Show me what it 
was like, Mel,” Janice growled into the dark hair. “Show me what 
you felt that night. Show me what you really wanted to do.”

        Mel reached up and ripped off her blindfold and turned around 
to look at Janice.  In her eyes was a wild look that the 
archeologist had never seen before.  She pushed Janice back on the 
bed and lay on top of her, covering her face with kisses.

        “Mel…I..” Janice started to protest but she found a hand 
clamped over her mouth.

        “Shut up!” Mel growled at her and slipped her hand down 
between Janice’s legs and into the hot, sensitive cleft. “And open 
wide,” she purred, capturing Janice’s mouth in a  kiss that took 
her breath away. The archeologist’s eyes widened as she felt Mel’s 
fingers bury themselves within her folds and slide deep inside of 
her. She groaned as the fingers slid out and back in once again... 
further this time. She reached over and behind Mel’s thigh to 
press her own fingers into Mel’s incredible wetness. She pushed 
two fingers deep inside and Mel’s muscles tightened immediately, 
her orgasm hitting her hard, and making her shudder violently.  
Janice felt her own muscles tighten in response, and she too went 
over the edge, clinging to Mel as if her life depended on it. 
        
The two women lay together silently for several minutes. Mel 
buried her head into Janice’s neck as her breathing slowed, and 
nuzzled the soft skin. Janice smiled into the soft raven hair, and 
ran her hand lightly over Mel’s back…feeling the smooth muscles 
quiver under her touch.  Reaching over to grab the velvet 
bedspread, she pulled it up and over the two of them, effectively 
cocooning them in it’s warmth.  She slid her knee in between Mel’s 
and rolled them over until they were side by side. She cupped 
Mel’s chin her in her hand and looked into the sleepy eyes only 
inches from her own.

        “I love you,” she whispered and kissed the warm, damp 
forehead. Mel sighed and snuggled into Janice’s embrace,  and 
closed her eyes. “I love you too, Janice,” she smiled as she slid 
her hand down around the archeologist’s behind and pulled her 
close. “Even though you weren’t entirely truthful with me.”

        “What?” Janice said, dumbfounded. “What do you mean?”

        “You told me that you were an evil woman…but I don’t see that 
at all.”

        “Oh really…what do you see, then, goodness and light? I’m not 
going to win any fluffy-winged angel contests any time soon.” She 
patted her side with her hand. “I think left my halo in my other 
jacket.”

        “Janice, you’re being silly!” Mel captured the blonde woman’s 
hand in her own and wrapped it around her. “When I look at you, I 
see a very passionate woman. A woman that has driven me to the 
brink of passion and then pulled me back to beg for more. A woman 
who has captured my mind, my heart, and my body in her hands and 
will never let go.” She paused as a look of wonderment crossed 
Janice’s face.  “That’s what I see,” she smiled.

        “Mel,” Janice blinked back tears and she swallowed hard. “How 
did we manage to find each other? Of all the people there are in 
the world, it’s you that came to my dig site that day, no one 
else. Then we find out our ancestors knew each other. In fact, 
they were very close friends, if not more. Do you ever wonder if 
maybe it’s destiny? Chance? Kismet?” 

“Why Doctor Covington…I think there may be hope for you 
yet….and if you keep that up, you’re going to end up carrying me 
home.” She grabbed Janice’s wandering hand that had made it’s way 
to her left breast and placed it on her hip. 

“Don’t worry, we have as much time as we want,” Janice grinned as 
she ran her fingernails over Mel’s hip, “We have this place for as 
long as we need it. There’s absolutely no hurry.” Mel’s eyes grew 
wide at the thought. “If that’s the case,  then I don’t ever want 
to leave.  I could just stay here forever…” She laid back and 
sighed. “Of course I’d need a long, hot bath, with someone to 
wash me…and then a butler to serve me meals, and a masseuse to 
massage my poor, tired muscles after my educational workouts… 
whether they be private tutorials or group meetings.  You *know* 
how stressful they can be,” she added with a grin.  

Janice just stared at Mel for a moment until the implications 
of what she had just said sunk in. 

“Did you just say *group* meetings? I volunteer for that 
job,” she grinned.

“I thought you might,” Mel grinned back. 


The end?

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